The Meatriarchy If God didn't want me to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat?
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Thought for the Day
Or maybe for the weekend since I don't usually post a lot over the weekend. I tend to spend it mowing the vast Meatriarchy estate or monitoring slabs of meat as they cook on the grill or smoker.
I haven't written much about the incidents of humiliations Iraqi prisoners have suffered under the hands of American Soldiers but don't the great majority of them seem awfully similar to hazing rituals?
I was sitting at my desk one night and the phone rang. I picked it up.
I had barely said hello when I was overwhelmed by the breathless and enthusiastic voice of someone who identified himself as working on behalf of the local NDP candidate in my riding.
He had some vital news for me!
“Do you know that if the Conservatives win they plan to implement an AMERICAN STYLE two tier health care system?” He asked.
"Really?" I said.
"Yes so we have to make sure they aren’t elected. Can we count on your support?"
“No, I rather like the idea of an American style health care system” I said and hung up the phone.
Actually I don’t really know if I would like an American style health care system. I just said that to screw with his mind.
Now for all you who are reading and are saying “but it’s true, it’s true! Bad ol’ Steven Harper he wanttsss to dessstroy our health care, we hatessss him!” I have a surprise for you.
The caller wasn’t talking about Steven Harper. He was talking about Mike Harris. The call didn’t happen recently. It happened in May of 1995 almost 10 years ago.
If you are reading from Ontario you know that nothing has changed about our health care system except the lines have gotten longer. There is nothing resembling AMERICAN STYLE two-tier health care in Ontario right now.
But if you remember the election campaign of that spring the same hysterical litany of fear was being repeated ad-nauseum by Harris’ opponents. Of course Harris won not only one term but two and never ever attempted to make radical changes to the health care system in terms of how those services were delivered. He did close some hospitals but at no time did he even attempt to bring in any form of private health care.
Of course all the people who said he would immediately apologized at how wrong they were. Well no not really but neither did the media call them on it either. Funny how you can say anything in an election campaign and people will let you away with it.
So now 10 years later we have the same tired old refrain being repeated ad-nauseum by the Paul Martin brigade and his self-appointed saviors of health care.
If would be helpful if all Canadians knew about that election campaign 10 years ago and all the crazy things they said Mike Harris would do. They accused him of having a hidden agenda but he didn’t, everything that the Tory government did was outlined in plain English in their “Common Sense Revolution”. I wonder if some media outlet could dig up some footage from that campaign and play it next to the Liberal ads.
Ok that is hoping for too much.
But if someone could travel back in time to the year 1995 and tell people that there is still no two-tier health care system in Ontario those who opposed Harris would have burned that person at the stake as a heretic.
Today we don’t need someone to travel back from the near future, to tell us that Steven Harper isn't going to implement an American style health care system. All we need do is look to the past.
A new species of species of mammal has been discovered in South America but was promptly converted into roast pork and eaten by Brazilian villagers, the German natural-science cinematographer Lothar Frenz said yesterday.
This actually sounds a lot worse than it actually is. The species in question is not some radically new animal that no one has seen before but merely a heretofore unidentified variety of Peccary
The animal was the fourth known species of Peccary, a piglike mammal found between the southern deserts of the United States and Patagonia. Resembling a wild pig, the Peccary has dark, coarse hair and a large head with a circular snout and small ears.
Frenz said, the new species’ behaviour and colouring were different, along with its size whic is 40 kilogrammes and 1.30 metres long.
Many species that were formerly classed as one have been divided when scientists prove that their eating habits, breeding range and other criteria are different.
In the bird world several species have been classified and re classified over many years (Bullocks and Baltimore Oriole, the three species that make up the Blue Headed Vireo complex etc.).
So to the natives this probably doesn't look any different from a regular Peccary. They have probably been eating these things for years.
Despite what I felt was a lackluster performance by our man Steven Harper on Tuesday night it doesn't seem to have affected his poll numbers.
The latest show that he has surged ahead of rival Paul Martin and is within striking distance of a majority.
A survey by the Liberal party's former pollster shows the Conservatives are heading for a strong minority government and may be within reach of a majority.
Party insiders say a poll by Michael Marzolini, chairman of Pollara, has the Tories at 36 per cent compared with 31 per cent for Paul Martin's Liberals
The NDP is at 16 per cent and the Bloc Quebecois at 12.
This sets up a stunning dash for the finish line over the next two weeks. Harper won praise from a lot of circles yesterday for conducting himself with dignity during the debates whilst the other candidates spent more time screaming and shouting over one another.
This seems to be playing well with a lot of people, which may mean the average Canadian deserves more credit than I originally gave them.
Incidentally I wasn't the only Harper supporter to feel he did poorly.
Lucia Corbella of the Calgary Sun summed it up thusly: Throughout last night's televised debate, what I saw instead was lost opportunities to further shred the credibility of Martin and his corrupt Liberal party.
As I've said before, Martin doesn't just have an Achilles heel, he has an Achilles' torso and yet Harper didn't appear able to deliver even one arrow to such an enormous and soft target.
Forgive my mixed metaphors, but even as Martin lobbed easy softballs to Harper, Harper often did not even swing, and if he did, he didn't use much gusto.
and the Conservative Punk Chick whose blog is now renamed A Chick Named Marzi felt pretty much the same as I did.
Stephen Harper was unfailingly polite and very well-spoken, but his lack of assertiveness really bothers me. Steve, my man, if you become Prime Minister of Canada, you're going to be thrown into the middle of the House of Commons. Show some teeth, already! Show some claws! I'm about to vote for you, buddy: prove to me that when the going gets tough, you're going to come out swinging! Prove to me that you're not going to back down! Prove to me that I'm not walking a block and a half to the polling station for nothing! There really *is* something about Harper's relentless blandness that gives me pause. I'm having a hard time picturing Harper sticking to his guns -- and that bothers me.
Paul Martin's attacks seem even sharper now and yesterday he said that Liberals were in the fight of their lives over Healthcare.
Here is an unasked and unanswered question that Harper could have scored major points with on Tuesday night.
Mr. Martin you were a key figure in cabinet for 10 years. Your party held crushing majorities and yet you are now painting health care as in dire need. If it is in dire straits isn't your party to blame? Why is health care suddenly such a big issue for you after 10 years in power? Couldn't you have provided this funding all along?
Sadly no one from any of the opposition parties called him out on this one. Nor have I heard any reporters asking this question.
Now Harper is starting to talk about a government for "all Canadians" not just Conservatives. Boy that would have sounded strange even a week ago.
So we come down to the wire with the big 'Mo still on the Conservatives side and the Liberals beginning to thrash about in what looks like a death roll.
If Harper should prevail 11 days from now it will represent a reversal from a regional perspective of the last two governments.
The Liberals governed with majorities that were essentially populated by people from Ontario to Eastern Canada.
Harper could very well win most of Ontario meaning this would be a government from Ontario through to BC.
This could help erase the feeling of Western Alienation that has become so pronounced over the past 10 years.
Quebec will be alienated but they haven't shown any signs of wanting to vote beyond their own parochial interests (which is entirely their right) and this won't represent a change in their status.
Atlantic Canada is starting to look like the next Socialist stronghold. Could Halifax be any more politically correct? Toronto as well could find itself on the outside looking in if it continues to support Layton and his "green car" crew.
Mayor David Miller would have been wise to keep his mouth shut over his party preferences. Does he think things will be better for Toronto if he has already aggravated the man who is looking like the next Prime Minister.
Way to have your finger on the pulse Mr. Mayor.
Is it time now to start thinking of some potential ministers in the new government? Well Stockwell Day is still around and he would figure prominently in the new cabinet. You can bet that Tony Clement and Belinda Stronach will be there too. So would any Harris Tories who are running federally.
But we could be getting ahead of ourselves. 11 days is a long time in a campaign. Well actually I don't know that it is. I just said that because it sounds good. Maybe 11 days aren't enough time for Martin to torpedo Harper.
I believe that the Liberals have a few dirty tricks up their sleeves so there could be some real fireworks in the next few days.
Either way this has been a very interesting few weeks.
Ok I watched the entire debate last night and to paraphrase Krusty the Clown “uggh that was death!!”
First of all the format was so laborious. Having everyone debate each other in turn is a good idea if all the leaders are in contention for the PM job but let’s face it who really wanted to see Jack Layton debate Gilles Duceppe?
I haven’t read the all the news reports entirely but no one seems to be picking a clear winner so I will.
Paul Martin won the debate. Steven Harper lost.
Martin looked like a man who was involved in the 7th game of the Stanley Cup final and was laying everything on the line, giving 110% and playing like there is no tomorrow. He took predictable fire from all the others for the record of government mismanagement but he was aggressive and relentless in his attacks on Harper and the differences in style between the two were marked.
Martin seemed very comfortable in the spotlight. He kept his head up, his eye contact with the camera was consistent (if a little overdone) and he never seemed at a loss for words.
Harper is obviously bright and well informed on all the issues but he comes across too soft spoken and not fiery enough. I know that you can’t change a person’s personality but there are things that his handlers could have focused on that would have made his performances better. For starters the eye contact thing. Harper tends to look down too much; almost immediately after he is finished his point his eyes drop. This makes him look uncomfortable, almost shy. In fact I kept thinking that Harper is our version of Richard Nixon, a solid guy but lousy in front of the cameras.
If he had raised his voice a little and kept his head up it would have worked wonders for his overall image. There were only two exchanges where I thought he bested Martin or at least staggered him.
One was on the issue of defense spending where he really seemed to be impassioned and the other was over the traditional definition of marriage where Martin was trying to turn Harpers policy on marriage into a broad-brush accusation that Harper was anti-minority.
Harper shot back that many new Canadians have the same view on marriage as he does.
This was a good response but there weren’t enough of them. Paul Martin has probably faced tougher exchanges in his own caucus meetings.
As for the other two.
Jack Layton in my opinion came into this debate with the most to gain. He is the most telegenic and is a feisty debater. While that certainly came through last night Layton blew his chance to win the debate.
Body language or at least positioning was his downfall. He always had his hands in front of him like they were clasped in prayer. It made him look uncomfortable. Scientists tell us that our body sometimes betrays the fact that what we are saying doesn’t jibe with our basic philosophy and when Jack’s hands hovered together or near together like that it really gave you the impression that he wasn’t comfortable with his own script.
And what was with that grin he had plastered on his face the whole night? When he gave his opening statement he looked like he was still laughing at a joke someone had told him just before he went on. You know when you are in a really serious situation but have this incredible urge to laugh and you can’t suppress it? You try and try but you just barely can keep it in? That’s how he looked. I would actually start to laugh when I saw him because I found it funny.
This gave rise to a curious exchange when he was peppering Martin over missile defense and talking over him (which was another thing Jack did too much of – talking over everyone) Martin chastised him saying:
"Did your handlers tell you to talk all the time?" "We're talking about missiles that could threaten the safety of the world. I don't find it a laughing matter," Layton replied.
This was the only time during the night that Layton stopped smiling. I thought right there Martin should have said: “No laughing matter? That’s funny Jack you’ve been laughing all night.”
Duceppe seemed bored most of the night and his discomfort with one of the Country’s official languages was evident. He sounds like he takes diction lessons from a Newfie (and before y’all start jumping on me I am a Newfoundlander).
He was only challenged on his separatist record by Harper, in fact I thought Steve scored more points against Duceppe than he did against Martin.
I know he has to be there and it would look bad if he wasn’t but sheesh he added nothing to the viewing experience. In fact most of the time I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
In terms of improving the overall entertainment factor I would make this suggestion.
If we are going to have each leader debate one on one then instead of having them all stand in one place the whole night have a pair of mikes and rostrums set up in front where the two debaters would have to come up and face each other. This would eliminate the annoying habit that most of them (but Martin and Layton were the worst) have of not talking to the person they are supposedly engaged with but instead looking right at the camera.
I know their handlers coach them to look at the camera but it looks really forced and artificial and reduces the debate to a series of short policy speeches shouted over each other.
Lame.
Will this affect the outcome of the election? I doubt that the undecided voters watched last night but if they did I don’t think Harper won a lot of them over. If Martin lost anything it would be to Layton who effectively positioned himself as an alternative for the left wing of the Liberal support.
Even a draw would have helped Harper but I couldn’t call this one a tie.
BTW it seems Zerbisias agrees with me. What’s next the four horsemen of the apocalypse?
Nicole Kidman is making them laugh now in "The Stepford Wives," but some New Line Cinema executives are not amused by a scene in "Birth," the thriller she just wrapped.
In the flick, Kidman bathes in the buff with a 10-year-old boy she believes is the reincarnation of her dead husband ....
The film, directed by Jonathan ("Sexy Beast") Glazer and co-written by Milo ("Monster's Ball") Addica, has a scene in which Kidman and the boy kiss passionately ...
Ok one comment: Why is Nicole Kidman such a big star? She looks like Skeletor with red hair. I have only found her remotely attractive in one movie : "The Others" where she looked fantastic. Every other movie and every time I see her in public (well on TV) she looks ghastly.
Ok two comments: If this scenario were reversed and the scene featured a leading man, say Pierce Brosnan, no wait a minute. Is that spelled right? Can't he change his name to Pierre Bronfman it would be so much easier. Ok forget him let's change it to... George Clooney or Russell Crowe (both of whom are better looking than Kidman btw) So George Clooney has a movie where he bathes naked with a 10 year old girl and they kiss passionately.....
Unfortunately this doesn’t lead to great TV. Mostly it leads to all four of the leaders mouthing endless platitudes at the camera.
You know the kind “My Canada is a strong and prosperous one” “ I believe in education” “I believe in quality health care” “ No one should be left behind” “ Quebec will get even more money” etc etc.
From tonights debate
"My vision of Canada is one of a country where health and the reduction of waiting times are our No. 1 priority," he said. "A Canada where Quebec expresses its differences where they matter most, at the heart of government, not in opposition."
One of my all time favorite Fish and Chips shops, Ches's Fish and Chips burned down yesterday. Back in the early 80's I had an apartment just above Ches's and would eat there regularly. St John's is home to several top drawer fish and chips shops with Ches's being probably the most popular. Although other locales like Scampers and The Big R have fiercely loyal followings.
In fact rival fish and chips shops have the same fanatical devotion as do Philadelphia's cheese steak houses or BBQ restaurants in the southern US.
The location of the three restaurants at the intersection of four major streets provides for convenient access from the multitude of bars in the downtown area of St. Johns. When they close a crowd of drunken revellers often stagger up the steep hills and crowd Ches's and the other two restaurants while filling their bellies with generous amounts of fish,chips, dressing (a type of stuffing made with savory, bread crumbs and onions) and gravy.
The fish is typically cod and when it is fresh it is easily the best tasting fish you can ever hope to find. Firm textured with a mild and delicate flavour it is in my opinion a better fish than Salmon or Tuna or any of those prized fancy restaurant fishes.
Ches's is not the first of these landmarks to burn down. The Big R was destroyed in a conflagration that burned down a whole city block a stones throw from Ches's.
Fortunately there are three other Ches's locations so I don't think people will be hard up for fish'n'chips.
But if you ever find yourself in St. John's late some foggy evening and have the urge to stuff yourself with something greasy yet tasty then head on over to Ches's or Scampers, or the Big R... you won't be disappointed.
Tonight begins the televised debates where all four party leaders will compete to make the other guy say something stupid and at the same time try to keep their own feet out of their mouths.
The debates as of late have turned into sonorous affairs with each leader bravely trying to stick to the “script” his handlers have drilled into him.
Unfortunately this doesn’t lead to great TV. Mostly it leads to all four of the leaders mouthing endless platitudes at the camera.
You know the kind “My Canada is a strong and prosperous one” “ I believe in education” “I believe in quality health care” “ No one should be left behind” “ Quebec will get even more money” etc etc. This is where you start yelling at the TV “Yes we all believe in all that stuff but what are YOU gonna’ do about it tough guy?”
In fact if you really have nothing better to do you could get all your loser friends together and have a drinking game. Every time someone utters a mindless platitude take a drink. Every time someone mentions health care take two drinks or two aspirins. When the leaders start talking over each other in a wooden and stiff imitation of real debate while Anna Marie Tremonte tries vainly to get them to shut up .. Switch channels.
Tonight’s debate will feature Martin and Duceppe more prominently as Martin has to salvage votes in Quebec if he is to make up for the ground he has lost in Ontario. Look for Martin to tell Quebecers that voting for Duceppe is like voting for Stephen Harper. So even though Harper doesn’t stand much chance of winning many seats in this part of the country he still looms large in the debate to night.
That’s because the Liberal’s are scared of Steven Harper and they want Canadians to be scared of him too.
So on Tuesday night watch for a full court press from all leaders on Harper. Martin has to attack Steve continuously and try to make him stumble. The committed voters aren’t going to change their minds but it’s the undecided that he has to win over. Unfortunately most won’t be watching but that’s ok the papers will tell everyone who “won” the next day.
Look for Martin to bring up abortion and health care continuously. No matter what the issue or topic.
“Yes our government is committed to the environment, but under Steven Harper the Tories would pollute our land with illegal abortions. Under my government dead fetuses are disposed of in a safe approved manner. Under Steven Harper they would be left in a garbage can in a back alley. This won’t help our commitment to Kyoto.”
Steven Harper has the most to lose or gain in this debate. If he is smart and well prepared he can put to bed the Liberal scare tactics over abortion and gay rights by reminding Martin that his party is equally divided over those issues.
When Martin says his party supports diversity of opinion in his party he can zing him by saying: “why don’t you support diversity of opinion in the country Mr. Martin?”
Or something much better – hey I am not a speechwriter.
Another problem for Harper is that he is the least telegenic of the candidates. Jack Layton is probably the most telegenic and will probably score well with women in the audience.
To remedy that perhaps Steve could wear a shirt that says “Stud Muffin”. I’ve always hated the term “stud muffin” but chicks seem to like it so it is worth a shot.
But getting back to abortions and stuff Steve has to find an opportunity early in the debate to look straight into the camera and say that abortion is not on the table for his party and isn’t even in the policy platform.
Then every time the others bring it up he can say “Weren’t you listening I already covered that 20 minutes ago.” Then he can look into the camera and say “do you want to elect a prime minister with poor listening skills, or me Steven Harper?”
I think this will work.
The debates will be covered on all the major networks leaving most Canadians to do what they do on any regular TV night: watch American programming. Biography on Tuesday night is featuring the Olsen twins (who incidentally turned 18 yesterday meaning it is now legal to find them attractive)who will probably utter as many empty platitudes but are at least easier on the eyes.
Of course CBC is running the show with big heads like Peter Mansbridge and Anna Marie Tremonti hosting the English debate while Don Newman hosts the French debate. This is too bad because Newman is the best interviewer the CBC has and doesn’t let politicians away with generic motherhood statements.
I hope that CBC gives Anna Marie the option of shutting off someone’s mike if they are talking over the other guy. Then we could get to see one of them get a confused look on his face and start tapping the mike mouthing “Is this on?”
